Josh Mogren

“I will continue to share my story and try my best to touch as many lives as possible by always going by my motto “I rather try and fail, then fail to try.”

My name is Josh Mogren. I am 32 years old, and I’ve been married to my wife, Carly, for almost six years. I am very happy and blessed to say that we live a wonderful life together with our puppies! Although life has been great for me, I can’t say it has always been easy. I was diagnosed with CF at the age of three months, and I also had to watch my sister pass away from CF at the age of 16, which was by far the most difficult obstacle I have had to overcome in my lifetime.

My family - which consisted of my mother, father, sister and me - lived in Lake Elmo, Minn., which is a suburb of St. Paul. I was very privileged in that my parents never made CF a focal point. Although it did take up a great deal of my time, they always wanted me to live my life as normal as possible. This meant going to school, doing activities and always trying new things. My mother always said, “Never let anything hold you back,” and this has stuck with me always. It was very difficult to watch my sister be sick most of her life, but this has helped me always live my life to the fullest and do my best to help others. I realized I could either feel sorry for myself or take care of myself and help others.

I received a degree called personal and civic advocacy, and I use this when I speak publically and write for people to see. I hope any bit of advice I have can help someone else in their life. When I am not working, I also enjoy karaoke and watching football and baseball. For volunteer work, I love to help out for Big Brothers and Big Sisters, and I also speak at local schools. To me, motivational speaking is so important, and it really helps brighten the days of many who are going through difficult times in their lives. There are many different ways to reach your target audience, but I personally enjoy using a puppet named Moganko to reach out to children who are dealing with CF. They are able to learn about CF through humor and honesty, and this is truly rewarding to me. I will continue to share my story and try my best to touch as many lives as possible by always going by my motto “I rather try and fail, then fail to try.”

Favorite Holiday: Thanksgiving
Favorite Food: Italian
Favorite Pastime: Baseball and Football
Nickname: Mogey
One Word to Describe Me: Caring
Role Model: Anyone who does the best they can every day
You can find Josh on ... Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and his blog (http://www.welcometojoshland.com/)